Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stuck to 7.2 per cent annual economic growth forecast for the current fiscal,despite the third quarter showing just 6 per cent expansion. The lower GDP growth in the third quarter was mainly due to poor performance of the agricultural sector. "In the first quarter,agriculture sector grew by two per cent. In the second quarter,it was less than one per cent but positive. But in the third quarter it was negative 2.8 per cent," Mukherjee said. "I feel that we may stick to the advance projection made by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). It may be 7.2 per cent,the GDP growth for the year 2009-10," he said at a post-Budget meeting with industry bodies. Terming 7.9 per cent growth in the second quarter as a signal of turnaround in the economy,the Finance Minister said the third quarter figures were on expected lines due to the impact of bad monsoon on the country's farm output.
